The Handsome Man's De Luxe Café

The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency often helps people find things they have lost. But they have never had to help a client findherself—until now, in this latest installment of Alexander McCall Smith’s bestselling and beloved series.A kindhearted brother and sister have taken in a woman known only as “Mrs.”—a woman with no memory of her name or of how she came to Botswana. And so it’s up to Precious Ramotswe and her new co-director, Grace Makutsi, to discover the woman’s identity. Meanwhile, motherhood proves to be no obstacle to Mma Makutsi’s professional success. As she settles into her role as partner at the agency, she also launches a new enterprise of her own: the Handsome Man’s De Luxe Café, a restaurant for Gaborone’s most fashionable diners. But even Miss 97 Per Cent isn’t fully prepared for the temperamental chefs, drunken waiters, and other challenges that come with running one’s own business. Help may come from an unexpected source, if only Mma Makutsi can swallow her pride and ask.And next door to the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni is all too familiar with the difficult decisions of business owners. He is finally forced to make a tough choice, one that will bring major changes to both Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors and the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency—and that will require all of Mma Ramotswe’s finesse and patience to sort out.With sympathy and indefatigable good humor, Mma Ramotswe and her friends see one another through these major changes and discover along the way what true friendship really means.

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I find this series a wonderful antidote to the factory-produced mystery/thriller too often touted as outstanding reading...and more often than not, seemingly aimed at manipulating the reader thru new levels of violence to new level of anxiety. Wonderful depth of characterization - it's a pleasure to spend time with Precious and Grace and their friends.

I love this comfortable series. I feel like I know these people, and I’ve been invited to share their daily lives. I loved the addition of Grace’s move into the purchase of a café (hence the name of the book) and the addition of Charlie as an assistant in the detective agency. Even if you haven’t been to Africa, you can feel the flow of Africa in this series.

Another cut-and-paste heart-warming morality tale from its esteemed master. Smith's stories are like chocolates ... the reader knows it's unhealthy (to the brain ... not the heart) to have too many but its hard to stop with the 15th installment.